The Dynamic Duo: Batman and Freud
by I Brake For Bishounen Boys
Summary: An essay that I wrote for school psychoanalysing Batman. Read at your own peril.


_An essay that I handed in for my anthropology/psychology class's culminating project. I thought other people might appreciate what is easily the nerdiest thing I have** ever **done. :) I like criticism, but please don't review to tell me how pathetic I am._

_Disclaimer- Batman isn't mine, he was created by someone else many many years before I was born. I just adore the comics._

The Dynamic Duo: Batman and Freud

Batman is a cultural icon that, though he was created in the 1930's, manages to endure and evolve in modern-day society. The renewed interest in the character due to the recent films suggests that this multi-media franchise is one of the few that audiences can remain attracted to. He is not a pure hero, at least not in the Jungian sense, but his blatant ambiguities only seem to increase the public's interest. These ambiguities stem from his complex psychological circumstances, of which analysis is often confusing and more so fascinating. There is his permanent latent state, reinforced by Robin, who acts as an external superego; his internalised self-doubt, which engenders excessive violence in him and others; and finally Batman's self-imposed good (his 'Crusade'). Because of these factors, Batman finds it impossible to incorporate himself into the society that he is trying to protect, and therefore makes ethical mistakes that border on selfish.

An immutable part of Batman's origin is the violent and untimely death of his parents, which definitely contributed to an interruption in his latency phase. According to Freud's Psychosexual Theory, the latency phase and a disruption of it is generally characterised by the patient acquiring friends of the same sex, and is strongly associated with the defence mechanisms of sublimation and repression. In order to fully examine the extent of the disruption of Batman's latent phase, one must look to the very separate and physical manifestation of Robin. David Mazzuchelli wrote that '...It makes perfect sense that [Batman's] best friend would be twelve years old, because Batman's still a boy in a man's body.' This is an overly simplistic analysis; though Batman displays childlike tendencies, he has by no means regressed into a happier time with Robin, like Mazzuchelli implies. He exposes Robin to violence and danger, as though trying to prepare Robin for a world that his own father could not. And though there is this paternal dynamic to their relationship, it is clear that Robin exercises some power over Batman as well. First, Batman feels comfort in Robin's presence; Freud wrote about a child afraid of the dark who calls for his mother to talk to him. Though it remains dark, it is the isolation the child truly fears, and when his mother talks to him, he is more at ease. Batman needs Robin's companionship when he is afraid, as he often is, of himself. Secondly, Batman needs someone to reinforce his strict black and white view on good and evil, and Robin fulfils this need. So in a sense, Robin is Batman's superego personified, and without him Batman fails to function properly. In the very brief stint where Batman was without a Robin (between the demise of the second Robin, Jason Todd and the arrival of Tim Drake, the current Robin) he exhibits increasingly violent behaviour that had previously went against his moral code, which is now compromised. Batman's dependency on Robin is underestimated, for he is unable to react in a collected and balanced manner without Robin, who acts as a superego and enforcer of his values.

As an ironic paradox, Batman's involvement in the protection of Gotham City leads to more violence. In addition to the civilian crime that is perpetrated in the city, certain villains are attracted solely to Batman and the challenge he represents. For instance, in a specific case where Batman has been in absentia for a good period of time but re-emerges, so too does the Joker. Harvey Dent, who until Batman's return has made great progress in rehabilitating himself, reverts both physically and morally to his villainous alter ego Two-Face. Batman makes no attempt to alter his actions so he does not provide as much of a target for these dangerous persons, and is therefore probably in a severe form of denial that Freud termed 'Hysterical Psychoses' (i.e. Miss Elizabeth). The truth that he is trying to repress involves his implicit role in the danger that Gotham City is constantly in. Whenever the possibility of his indirect involvement is brought up in conversation, Batman denies any connection whatsoever, insisting that it is ultimately the criminals' choice to come to Gotham City, and that it would matter little if he were there. However, his doubt in this statement is reflected in his subsequent crime fighting; in order to give criminals less of an incentive to come to Gotham City, his scare tactics become more brutal and his punishments more severe. This does not deter the criminals he is trying to stop, for they see the new challenges and want to see if they can get past them. A vicious circle is established, and soon the probability of a safe Gotham City is decimated because of Batman's inability to accept that the escalating level of atrocities instigated by others is almost always due in part to him.

As evidenced from his actions, Batman knows that he is only human, but tries to transcend that by putting himself above the established law and replacing it with his own. He justifies this by magnifying his personal vendetta to include all criminals and giving his quest a pseudo-religious theme. In a sense, he occupies a different position than what is perceived; rather than being the servant of Gotham City, (as the 'Caped Crusader', in his own words) Batman becomes at once the soldier and the cause that he is fighting for, answerable only to himself and nobody else, not even the established authorities. When he began he had resistance from the authorities on this count, but he now has their acceptance and even cooperation (i.e. the Bat Signal). The rest of the population of Gotham City accepts Batman without much consternation. The only resistance that Batman truly receives is that which comes from the villains. They take security in the fact that Batman's strict moral code dictates that he cannot kill, and they go great lengths to frustrate him through that clause. Batman deals with them as well as he can, but for a character whose driving force is said to be justice, very few of the criminals that he defeats actually make it through the judicial system, often instead going to Arkham Asylum. This is because Gotham City has no apparent need for the judicial system when it comes to Batman-related criminals. Batman has already judged them, so human interference is redundant. Batman's control over Gotham is such that none perceive him as totally human anymore, and instead see him as a substitute for the divine and tangible symbols of authority that appear to be absent.

Batman resists the realisation that he contributes a great deal to his city's problems. He bombards himself with assurances that he is in the right, and builds his own mythos so others believe so as well. Batman creates his own moral code (regulated by Robin) in opposition to the established legal system, centring his self-styled 'Crusade' on this code. However, deep-set doubt in himself and the ethics of what he does often leads to him making mistakes, which upsets his self-perception as omnipresent and omnidroit. It is impossible for Batman to remain within society's rules in this frame of mind, and he will continue to bend them in order to accommodate his own needs.


End file.
